Pinoy NASA scientist launches book on his journey to finding God

Jojo Sayson, a Filipino National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research scientist launched in Makati City in the Philippines an autobiography that describes his journey to finding God after going through depression.

Sayson, also a physical therapist and doctor of manual therapy, launched his book "Springboard to Heaven" at Powerbooks in Greenbelt, Makati City.

The book talks about how he once attempted to commit suicide but eventually overcame his depression and found peace with God.

 

In an interview with GMA News Online, Sayson said he aims "to ignite people so that they can be like angels and that they can be like the light in the world.” 

 

“The whole world is changing and God is being lost,” he said.

 

“A lot of people call themselves Christians but they commit all kinds of improper acts that are contrary to their beliefs,” he explained. “I want people to walk the talk, give meaning to their lives,” he added.

 

“Things happen for a reason”

 

Sayson said his book was meant for everyone.

 

He said he didn’t plan on writing the book and that it was “one of those things where you surrender yourself to the greater being which is God.”

 

“You find out that things happen for a reason,” he said.

He said sometimes, people will find that they just have to go with the flow.

He likened this to his own experience. 

 

“Like the author coming to my life saying that he wants to write a book about myself,” he said.

Letting go

 

Sayson said people should “be willing to sacrifice and let go of the things that you’re comfortable with because we always want to live within our comfort zones.”

 

“Good income, good health, good schedules, everything has to be comfortable, you need to step out of it,” he said.

 

“That’s the only way that you can go. You have to stretch yourself actively, otherwise when bad things happen you’re [going to be] destroyed,” he continued.

 

He said if one is "too comfortable" with his life, something may be wrong and he may need to undergo a certain amount of stress to get to the next level.

 

“When I say stress, challenge yourself spiritually, morally, financially, physically, anything, [just] challenge yourself.

 

Infinity and disproving God

 

Sayson said even as a child, he felt that he had a mission.

 

“I always thought about what we call infinity, I did not have the words for it but I felt a calling even as a child that I must have a mission,” he said.

 

“I realize my mission and I now see the invisible, somehow and I tell people that ‘you can see the invisible as well only if you open your mind and heart.’” he added.

 

Sayson strongly believes that there is a greater being out there after he has “opened up.”

 

“I tried to disprove God but I could not win,” he said, adding, “I could not have any stronger reason why there is no God, there is a God.”

 

Filipino roots

 

Born in the Philippines on June 19, 1963, Sayson became aware of the hardships of earning a living.

 

“I couldn't live off with the money that I was earning,” he admitted.

 

He left the Philippines on January 25, 1986 to seek greener pastures.

 

“I left for financial reasons. Because for what I have achieved in college as a physical therapist, during those days it was not enough to sustain living fairly comfortably and supporting your family,” he said.

 

“Because if I am to help my family and to pursue the dreams that I want, I need to have an infrastructure,” he added.

 

Sayson said he misses the Filipino people “that’s why I keep on coming back."

 

“I go by Jose Rizal’s quote 'Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ‘di makakararating sa paroroonan,'” he added.

 

He also said the past keeps people's feet on the ground.

 

“Every time I’m eating good food in a nice restaurant, I would look out the window and I would see myself outside,” he said.

 

“Because at one point in my life, I was that other person looking into the nice place and telling myself “Wow it must taste good there it must feel nice to be in there. One day I’ll be there, I believe and it shall,”” he added. 

 

Controlling one's passions

 

Sayson’s favorite Filipino foods are “Rellenong bangus, kikiam and halo-halo.”

 

 However, he maintains a strict diet and regulates his food intake.

 

“Filipinos live to eat, I eat to live,” he said, adding, “It’s a matter of controlling your passions.”

 

Sayson also talked about controlling one's passions.

 

“If you have passions you could control, [such as] love, anger and hormonal passion then you are a well-controlled human being,” he said.

 

“If you can’t control it, madali ka magalit, then animal ka,” he added.

 

He said a person can only experience living life if he learns to control his passions.

 

“If you control your passion then you are the captain of your soul and you can go places because you are in command,” he said.

 

“We have to focus on the bigger and brighter things rather than the negative things. It’s all about focusing,” he continued.

 

To his fellow Filipinos, Sayson gave this advice: "Believe that you could be whoever you want to be. Believe that your life will change on how you want it by acknowledging that there is a creator, there is a God and that you are a co-creator with God,” he said. - VVP, GMA News